Thread: How important it are a scuttle and brush to a beginner

As per the title, how important are the scuttle and/or brush to someone just starting to straight shave? There's a pottery place pretty local to home that sells a moss scuttle? How important is this? Could I just use a big mug? And the brush... Holay, do I go with one of the many varieties of badger? Or boar? Or a cheapy synthetic from the body shop?

Just trying to nail ail things down so that I can enjoy the experience.

thanks in advance all.

If you face lather you will not need a scuttle because you make your lather on your face. If you prefer not to do that you can use a suitable cup to build lather in before spreading it on your face. If you want warm lather then a scuttle designed to hold hot water between an inner and outer wall will keep your lather warm after you make it in the scuttle.

The Moss scuttle is a well know scuttle.

You can use any brush type you like as it is a personal preference thing. They all have different feel and act differently when making a lather. I will say to take a pass on the one from The Body shop. I love synthetics but just could not get on with that one.

The minute you ask for recommendations you will get flooded with all kinds of suggestions. I would do some research on the differences between brush types and select one that you think fits what you want in your price range.

The same would go for whether to use a scuttle, cup or nothing and face lather.

Bob

A scuttle is a luxury item and not needed as Bob said. As for a brush, Lots of choices. I would start small to make sure you stick with it. Lots of experienced shavers one here use a 9$ boar hair brush as often as a 200$ badger brush. I started with a dirty bird scuttle which is amazing but 1.5 years later I tend to face lather. Good luck on your voyage.

The important thing when you are starting is understanding what good lather is. Beginners tend to overlook that aspect by not putting enough time to whip up a good thick cushiony lather.

Having said that, with a quality soap or cream, you can achieve good results with an affordable boar brush and a large mug. If you want something more luxurious, then a best badger brush is good middle of the road option. As for the body shop synthetic brush, you can probably do better for your money with an omega boar brush instead.

+1 using a brush is a lot better option so get the best knot you can afford is all I will say.

but I must note my nephew has used a shavette & str8 for about 1.5 years now & never used a brush yet & still goes with the hands & instant type creams etc to lather also only a once a week shaver.

the scuttle is a luxury that can be done without for a while, if not forever.
JMHO

Edit: I only use a bowl or face lather

Most of the oldtimers around seem to face-lather, I think. Mugs and scuttles on the shelf. Could be wrong, don't think so.

As said above, a scuttle is not essential. You probably have the makings of a scuttle in your kitchen !!
I sometimes use a plastic microwave-use bowl, fill it with about 2" of freshly boiled water and then put a
smaller ceramic bowl inside. This should give you an idea of what the "scuttle experience" is like....
The brush in the pics is a cheapie Frank Shaving badger brush from the 'bay.
Sorry, didn't mean to hijack your thread

Originally Posted by iKe

As per the title, how important are the scuttle and/or brush to someone just starting to straight shave? There's a pottery place pretty local to home that sells a moss scuttle? How important is this? Could I just use a big mug? And the brush... Holay, do I go with one of the many varieties of badger? Or boar? Or a cheapy synthetic from the body shop? Just trying to nail ail things down so that I can enjoy the experience.thanks in advance all.

They are both somewhat important, but both can be substituted or even eliminated depending on the resourcefulness of the beginner. If you are using shaving cream like C.O. Bigelow, you could apply it by hand, directly to your face without using a brush at all. There may be some types of soap that can adequately be applied without a brush as well. However the brush plays a fairly big part in building a lather that will surround the hairs on your face and soften them. It also aids in mixing the cream or soap with sufficient water to maintain a lather that will not dry out too fast. You could get away without a brush, but your experience will be greatly improved with a decent one. The scuttle on the other had is fairly unnecessary. It simply serves as a place to generate a lather using the brush. Some are designed to be heated from below the bowl with hot water which keeps the lather warm. That warmth plays a part, along with the brush, in softening the hairs on your face and making them easier to remove with your razor. Additionally a warm lather feels awesome on the face and enhances the whole shaving experience. However, you could build a later directly on your face with the a brush, or even in your hand. Between the brush and scuttle, the brush is definitely more valuable to the beginner. Practically any container can be used as a bowl to generate lather in, but you could eliminate the bowl all together and not be any worse off. If you can obtain both a decent brush and scuttle, go for it. But if you can only spring for one, get a brush.

The posts above pretty well cover the subject.
Old style scuttles with the itty bitty bowl on top and the water well for the brush in the bottom were a way to get hot water from the range to the shave stand.
If you find one of these, they were really more for face lathering with a shave stick or rubbing the wet face with a soap. The brush was to work up a lather on the face and it would set onto the scuttle out of the way and could get more water if needed.
I find the old style scuttles fun. I can rub or smear a small amount of a softer soap into the bowl and lather there. Then put the loaded brush to my face for fuller penetration of the stubble. a bit more hot water in a minute makes the lather complete.
The new style scuttles are a winner and the same soft soap or cream smeared into the bottom makes a great lather and...stays warm.
YMMV of course as with any other shaving info.
~Richard

My 2 cents... I can see benefit of a scuttle for a beginner. When I first started, I would spend 45 minutes shaving to get a good BBS. Having hot lather for that entire time would have been nice.